After becoming a lawyer on October 15, 1923, he was appointed as mayor of Cebu City on August 3, 1940 upon the resignation of Vicente Rama[2] who was running for the senatorial seat in the elections to be held on November 11, 1941.

[4] During World War II, he served as the governor of Cebu from 1943 until 1944,[5][6] although scholars had a hard time determining the start and end of his term, as well as the terms of Hilario Abellana and Jose S. Leyson, due to the instability in politics and civilian government in those times.

[7] By virtue of the 1943 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines,[8] he was an ex officio member of the National Assembly under the Japanese regime during his time as governor.

[9] On February 1, 1944, he was also said to be Cebu's highest ranking official during the celebration of Japanese National Foundation Day held.

[10] On March 9, 1944, he made an announcement calling for peace by urging people to assist the efforts of the government against the anti-Japanese guerilla forces.